The effects of load on system and lower-body joint kinetics during jump squats

To investigate the effects of different loads on system and lower-body kinetics during jump squats, 12 resistance-trained men performed jumps under different loading conditions: 0%, 12%, 27%, 42%, 56%, 71%, and 85% of 1-repetition maximum (1-RM). System power output was calculated as the product of the vertical component of the ground reaction force and the vertical velocity of the bar during its ascent. Joint power output was calculated during bar ascent for the hip, knee, and ankle joints, and was also summed across the joints. System power output and joint power at knee and ankle joints were maximized at 0% 1-RM (p < 0.001) and followed the linear trends (p < 0.001) caused by power output decreasing as the load increased. Power output at the hip was maximized at 42% 1-RM (p = 0.016) and followed a quadratic trend (p = 0.030). Summed joint power could be predicted from system power (p < 0.05), while system power could predict power at the knee and ankle joints under some of the loading conditions. Power at the hip could not be predicted from system power. System power during loaded jumps reflects the power at the knee and ankle, while power at the hip does not correspond to system power.     

From empowerment to response-ability: rethinking socio-spatial,environmental justice,and nature-culture binaries in the context of STEM education

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In this conceptual paper, we draw upon the insights of Feminist Science Studies, in particular Karen Barad’s concept of agential realism, as a critical...     

Distance education and the impact of technology in Europe and Japan

Conclusion Imagine the possibilities of distance education in our future, even the near future. The pace of technological development allows for increased personal interaction between people at great distances. This is the essence of distance education: to be able to take part in an instructional activity without regard to time or distance. The potential for the Internet and other developing technologies is impossible to forecast accurately. Who would have guessed 20 years ago today's technological advances that allow us to expand our opportunities to learn, and to enjoy an improved lifestyle. This is an eventful time in the world's history, with much to look forward to. However, less developed countries may not share this positive outlook. If distance education is to spread around the globe, beyond the economic wealth of Europe, Japan and the United States, we have to consider the particular needs of countries with lesser means. This may mean not using the highest or latest technology available. The communications micracle brought about by the Internet facilitates the sharing of the haves with the have-nots. It is well known that the gap is widening between the richest and poorest countries. Ironically, the very technology that is part of widening this gap can also be used to close it. Ken Albrechtsen completed his master's degree in Instructional Technology at Utah State University and currently is with Parker Aerospace, Ogden, UT. She works for the Center for Persons with Disabilities. Chad Parker is seeking his master's degree in Instructional Technology at Utah State University and is a program manager for the off-campus Educational Technology program.     

Open access metadata: current practices and proposed solutions

Nearly every major publisher offers open access content of some sort, but open access metadata standards are non‐existent amongst content providers. Users, librarians, content providers, and technology vendors who offer OpenURL resolvers and discovery services all stand to benefit from standardized ways to indicate what content is open access and what is not. Additionally, all stakeholders would benefit from a standardized method by which one can ascertain what form of open access any content may be; indeed, there are many definitions of open access. There is ample evidence that every publisher handles their content metadata differently and this creates inefficiencies in the scholarly information supply chain and leads to user confusion. Many initiatives are currently working on solutions to these problems including the NISO KBART workgroup, NISO's Open Discovery Initiative, and NISO's very recently created Open Access Initiative. There are also pre‐existing concepts based on services, such as CrossRef's CrossMark service and discovery systems that hold promise with respect to open access content and metadata.     

Child pornography in peer-to-peer networks

ObjectiveThe presence of child pornography in peer-to-peer networks is not disputed, but there has been little effort done to quantify and analyze the distribution and nature of that content to-date. By performing an analysis of queries and query hits on the largest peer-to-peer network, we are able to both quantify and describe the nature of querying by child pornographers as well as the content they are sharing.MethodChild pornography related content was identified and analyzed in 235,513 user queries and 194,444 query hits.ResultsThe research confirmed a large amount of peer-to-peer traffic is dedicated to child pornography, but supply and demand must be separated for a better understanding. The most prevalent query and the top two most prevalent filenames returned as query hits were child pornography related. However, it would be inaccurate to state child pornography dominates peer-to-peer as 1% of all queries were related to child pornography and 1.45% of all query hits (unique filenames) were related to child pornography, consistent with a smaller study (Hughes et al., 2008).In addition to the above, research indicates that the median age searched for was 13 years old, and the majority of queries were gender-neutral, but of those with gender-related terms, 79% were female-oriented. Distribution-wise, the vast majority of content-specific searches are for movies at 99%, though images are still the most prevalent in availability.ConclusionsThere is no shortage of child pornography supply and demand on peer-to-peer networks and by analyzing how consumers seek and distributors advertise content we can better understand their motivations.Practice implicationsUnderstanding the behavior of child pornographers and how they search for content when contrasted with those sharing content provides a basis for finding and combating that behavior. For law enforcement, knowing the specific terms used allows more timely and accurate forensics and better identification of those seeking and distributing child pornography. For Internet researchers, better filtering and monitoring is possible. For mental health professionals, understanding the preferences and behaviors of those searching supports more effective treatment.     

Comparison of auditory and visual conditioning stimuli in delay eyeblink conditioning in healthy young adults

Classical eyeblink conditioning (EBC) has been widely used to probe cerebellar function in humans and nonhuman mammals. Although the neural pathways governing behavior in this task are well understood and fairly discrete, it remains unclear in the human literature how conditioned stimuli (CSs) of different modalities (e.g., visual and auditory) influence the exhibition of conditioned responses (CRs). In the present study, therefore, CRs to a visual CS and an auditory CS were examined with the single-cue delay EBC procedure. An initial experiment (N=61) was conducted to identify visual and auditory stimuli that had equal perceived intensities. Using these perceptually equivalent stimuli, a second group of 25 subjects completed auditory and visual EBC procedures in two testing sessions 5–8 days apart. Whereas the acquisition of CRs was similar between the CS modality conditions, the timing of the CRs differed such that earlier CR onset and peak latencies were associated with the visual CS. In addition, CR timing improved across testing sessions, as indicated by the later CR peak latencies exhibited during the second testing session, as compared with the first.     

STATE SUPPORT FOR INTERINSTITUTIONAL TRANSFER AND ARTICULATION: THE IMPACT OF DATABASES AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Research since the mid-1960s has demonstrated the relative paucity of state support for the transfer function of postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, while emphasizing the importance of support for student access to the full range of higher education opportunities. Ewell and Jones (1991) and Russell (1999) however, have documented that the state policy and planning environment for student transfer changed in the 1990s. At least 43 states, plus Puerto Rico, have ongoing student information systems that include data elements pertaining to transfer students and, thus, have the capacity to affect the transfer environment through data-based analysis of transfer student educational outcomes. This article presents the results of a national study of the purpose, structure, and impact of databases and information systems maintained on transfer students by state higher education agencies. The study concluded that, although most states have an increasing ability to collect, manipulate, and use such data to inform the policy process, state higher education agencies generally do not monitor or assess the effectiveness of their databases and information systems to help improve outcomes for transfer students. A major challenge for state higher education agencies and state policy makers is to develop measures and strategies for determining the effect of state and institutional policies on transfer students.     

The role of motor processes in three-dimensional mental rotation: Shaping cognitive processing via sensorimotor experience

An extensive body of literature has explored the involvement of motor processes in mental rotation, yet underlying individual differences are less documented and remain to be fully understood. We propose that sensorimotor experience shapes spatial abilities such as assessed in mental rotation tasks. Elite wrestlers' and non-athletes' mental rotation accuracy and response times were measured in three different conditions: mental rotation (a), mental rotation with visual (b) and movement (c) interference. Results showed that both groups were equally affected by the visual interference task, as hypothesized from previous literature. However, the movement interference task impacted tremendously more wrestlers' mental rotation performance. These findings suggest that experts in motor activities rely heavily on motor processes in three-dimensional mental rotation problems solving, thus performing more poorly when simultaneously holding movements. The implications of this work in providing further evidence for the close tie between perceptive, motor and cognitive processes are discussed.     

Mixed Methods Research – Nonverbal Observations of Cultural Convergence in Online and Offline Contexts: Testing Hall’s Low- Vs. High-Context Framework

ABSTRACT

Extending the existing low- and high-context culture theoretical framework, the current research examined the extent to which globalization has shaped low- and high-context cultures in relation to nonverbal communication. The current study employed an exploratory sequential design mixed research method. The first phase of the study observed cultural convergence evident in people’s nonverbal communication in real life and reported the observations qualitatively. In the second phase of the study, a quantitative content analysis was carried out. The content analysis, namely sentiment analysis, examined the occurrences of people of diverse nationalities expressing their emotions when they provide reviews of airlines on a travel website and empirically test the relevance of low- and high-context theoretical framework in the era of globalization. A total of 85,228 reviews of 592 airlines available on a travel website were downloaded using a web crawler. The qualified records used for analysis included records from the following regions: Africa, Asia, Australia, Latin America, Northwestern Europe, Southern Europe, and United States. An analysis of variance on the number of words people used in writing travel reviews online yielded significant variations among the seven regions. This data also sheds light on cultural convergence.